7 Random Things About Me!

Who doesn’t like awards and the recognition from their peers that they are deserving of such awards?! My fellow Bloggers seem to believe I am a versatile blogger since in recent months I have been nominated a few times by various bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.

How the Versatile Blogger Award works is that once nominated one has to share 7 things about yourself with your readers. Since I started my Blog in July, 2018 I have shared quite a lot about myself Ask Me Anything – The Answers (Part One) and Ask Me Anything – The Answers (Part 2) and yet I am still concerned about oversharing BLOGGING FEARS so I am not entirely sure what else, if anything, I’d like you all to know about me but I’ll have a go at the nomination anyway.

So without further ado, here are 7 totally random bits of information about me:

1. I recently lost 18 pounds! It’s surprising to me that my 18 lb weight loss doesn’t really show that much. I think 18 lbs is a lot so I figured everyone would have noticed that I am shrinking but not really. A few people have noticed and commented but in the grand scheme of things not as many as I had hoped. In any event, I am extremely proud of myself for having the discipline to have lost some weight and I am super excited about getting to my desired weight goal. When I first started my weight loss program I told myself that I would write a blog post about it once I lost the first 20 pounds; so who knows there might be a weight loss blog post coming next week.

2. I blog about my husband and my son a lot, but there are 2 other important people in my World who are among my favorites – my mother and my brother. Both my Mom and my brother think I overshare on my blog so despite my admiration for and the fact that I would love to write about them, I am fearful of doing so because I don’t want to inadvertently trample on their privacy.

3. I sometimes feel burdened being the matriarch in the household. Why should I be responsible for what everyone eats on a daily basis? I get so annoyed at the beginning of the week when I have to meal plan or figure out what dinner is going to be for the next few days. The flip side of that, however, is I recently discovered that I actually enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes (psst; don’t tell my husband 😃). Three weeks ago I made Lasagna for the first time and it was to die for. I am so excited to make it again, among trying other new dishes.

4. I am not impressed by how much money you have, the size of your house or what you do for a living. In fact, I get turned off by people who believe that such things define an individual. I am impressed by character. Are you loyal? Do you have integrity? Are you personable? Are you a pleasure to be around? Those are the things that impress me. The size of your wallet or bank account does not make a difference to me if your personality is lacking.

5. I like watching pimple popping YouTube videos. There, I said it! It’s so gross and disgusting but I inexplicably and weirdly derive some satisfaction from watching all that “stuff” ooze out of the pimple or cyst once it pops. I can’t explain why I enjoy these videos so much, I just do. I find them oddly relaxing and apparently 4,999,999 other people do too since Dr. Sandra Lee aka Dr. Pimple Popper has 5 million subscribers to her YouTube channel alone, this doesn’t even include her Instagram and Facebook pages.

6. People who tell me they have no friends scare me. I am of the view that in order to have a friend you have to at least be a friend so if you don’t have even one friend then there has to be something amiss about your personality. When it comes to friends and friendships quality trumps quantity; so for someone to say they don’t have any friends, not even one, makes me wonder about them, and all I can do is raise my eyebrows and think to myself what the hell is wrong with that person that s/he doesn’t have even one friend.

7. I have a brand new niece. I haven’t met her yet but I love her. When I saw her pictures I immediately fell in love. She is only a few weeks old, and looking at her pictures makes me wish I, myself, could have a daughter. Meet Sonia Christina…..

I really enjoyed your 7 Points About Yourself Rakkelle. I am wishing you success with the weight loss program which seems to be working for you. I am on one weight loss kick as well. I am not sure if I have lost weight yet but will see in time. Keep writing as I know we all enjoy reading what you have to say. You are a wonderful peer here on WordPress.com Rakkelle !!

Congratulations on your weight lost! Keep working hard because I know its not easy. Blogs like these are really good because I believe this can make other people connect with more and we all have random moments and do random things

I hear ya loud and clear on No. 3. You’ll burn yourself out by going at it alone. Put a bit more fun in your meal planning by involving your two guys. Get their input and delegate some of the chores. As an example … get your son to plan the menu for a week and let him execute same. Rotate. … let Tarzan plan the other week. Be lavish in your praise for their efforts. Plan your menu around themes. One week go Mexican, next week … Asian … etc. Set the pace and use a bit of your matriarchial lawyer’s psychology and make foodie time a fun time. After a while, you’ll find yourself eating more than cooking. Hey, it’s not a sin to enjoy those guilty pleasures.

I hear ya loud and clear on No. 3. You’ll burn yourself out by going at it alone. Put a bit more fun in your meal planning by involving your two guys. Get their input and delegate some of the chores. As an example … get your son to plan the menu for a week and let him execute same. Rotate. … let Tarzan plan the other week. Be lavish in your praise for their efforts. Plan your menu around themes. One week go Mexican, next week … Asian … etc. Set the pace and use a bit of your matriarchial lawyer’s psychology and make foodie time a fun time. After a while, you’ll find yourself eating more than cooking. Hey, it’s not a sin to enjoy those guilty pleasures.

She’s adorable! Losing 18 pounds is awesome! It is strange that people act like they don’t notice; I’m almost sure they do. My husband loves Dr. Pimple Popper! I can watch some of it, but boy! Is it gross! Makes me want to gag. I don’t like braggers, either. I’d rather hang around the poorest people on earth than waste my time on one frivolous show-off. Show me your heart, what makes you tick, no holding back and you have my trust and admiration. Thanks for sharing, Rakkelle!

Girllllll – 18pds????? I can’t seem to lose 2, Bahahahaha – I’m proud of you and that’s great!! I heard slow weightloss was the best anyway, so kudos to you!

I’m going to say this, so here goes………I LOVE POPPING PIMPLES!!!! Hahahaha. My mom used to get the best and juicy ones and sometimes she would let me pop it and sometimes she wouldn’t. She just liked for them to play out their course but I was always like MA!!! just let me do it, PLEASSSSSEEEEE!!! Haha, I miss her SOOOO incredibly much, not just for that but in general. I also like popping my daughters, she hates when I initiates it but when she voluntarily ask me to do it, Girl I get sooo excited…Is that weird?? The flip side of that is, I don’t know if I can watch someone do it….I know, it’s crazy. I’ve seen the advertisement of that show but haven’t watched it.

Your niece is SOOOOOOOOOOO Adorbs!!! So beautiful!!!
Good job on the Lasagna – That’s one of my favorite foods! – I promise not to tell your husband you’re loving the cooking gig, maybe I’ll get there one day. Right now, I despise cooking…it’s one of the things I’d splurge on if I ever became rich or into a little money “A Chief” (24-7)….LOL

Not sure if anyone else said this yet, but also if you lost the weight slowly, it would be harder for people who saw you all the time to notice. Those who hadn’t seen you for weeks or months would no doubt be like, “Whoa! Good job!”
My husband likes Dr. Pimple Popper too, but I can’t watch it! Then again, when the dog or cat would throw up on my foot or I had to clean their number 2 messes up in the yard, that didn’t bother ME at all, but my mother would get nauseated, so…to each his own!
Your niece is adorable. And what a beautiful name……….

Hi Selizabryan – It took me 3 months to lose the 18 lbs (as of this morning I’m down 20). I get what you’re saying about the amount of time it takes and the people who see you daily. A girlfriend of mine, who hadn’t seen since the end of last year, saw me on Tuesday and immediately commented on my weight loss so you’re definitely right about that.

One more thing – It doesn’t matter if someone had commented with a similar opinion before you. I am always happy to engage with other bloggers, doesn’t matter if I am reading and repeating the same thing. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to comment on my blog posts.

Congrats on the numerous nominations lately, and on the weight loss – I can see it’s a bit disheartening if others don’t notice but what matters is how you feel, not all weight can really be seen (especially if you’re turning some to muscle) so you should be proud. Totally agree with no.4, it’s about your qualities not your status or wealth or rung on the social ladder! xx

Yes, very disheartening when not many notice that all of 18 lbs is gone. May I add right here that as of this morning it’s 19 lbs. Yaaaay!

One woman in the gym mentioned to me, however, when I was thanking her for noticing my weight loss, telling her I’m glad she noticed because most people didn’t she said that it’s because when I had that extra weight I carried it so well so that’s the reason no one really notices that it’s gone. She was very encouraging so I’ll hold on to that…She made me feel good. 🙂

Yeah, of course I’m doing it for me. Absolutely! However, it’s nice to recieve acknowledgement and recognition from others. For me such acknowledgement and recognition serves as encouragement and motivation; which makes me want to keep on going.

Yes, I should be meeting her next month. Thank you.

Re friends, like I said, quantity trumps quality, so you’re good if you ask me.

1. Congratulations!
2. I understand respecting peoples’ privacy. Sometimes though it doesn’t hurt to change a few names, dates, or other specifics–honesty should always be valued but it also shouldn’t get in the way of a good story.
3. Hopefully your skill with Lasagna won’t interfere with maintaining #1.
4. Like you I’ve found that the truly successful people aren’t necessarily wealthy but are the ones who are just a pleasure to be around–they’re also the happiest.
5. Now I want to watch pimple popping videos. I haven’t but, well, secretly I think we all know the pleasure of popping our own pimples–the pain followed by the sweet relief, so I can see why watching videos would be satisfying.
6. There are people who tell you they have no friends? If I thought I had no friends I’d start doing some serious soul-searching and asking myself, What am I doing wrong? People with no friends probably think it’s everyone else’s fault so I can see why they scare you.
7. Thank you so much for sharing–and saving the best for last! How lucky for you to have a new niece and how lucky for Sonia Christina to have an aunt like you!

I never thought about the changing names, dates part of it since I always want to remain authentic. That’s actually a pretty cool idea though. You’ve just inspired me to go with a story I have been sitting on for a minute. Wanted so much to blog about it but certainly didn’t want to offend anyone and or invade their privacy. So, yeah, thanks for that tip.

3. Sometimes the first time is just a lucky fluke. Lasagna is on the menu for this week so we shall see now, won’t we?!

6. I added this one because someone had just said that to me on Saturday. Same person said that to me before too, sometime last year.

A total of 5 people (including the one mentioned above) have said that to me in recent years. One of them when asked, “Why?” have responded, “I don’t like keeping friends…They always disappoint.” True story!

7. Awwwwww, Christopher! You’re sweet to say that.

So much love for your commentary, Chris (may I call you Chris?). 💙❤💛🖤🧡💚💜 Thank you so much for taking the time. 🙂

Your niece is adorable!! And I’m also a Dr. Pimple Popper fan, I agree something so really oddly relaxing about watching her do her thing. Also well done on losing 18 lbs! People don’t realize how much 18 lbs is until you go to grab a 10 lb bag of potatoes and then realize this plus eight more is 18 lbs and it’s heavy. So you go girl! And I feel you about being the matriarch of the family. Every Sunday me and my boys have Sunday dinner and I have to come up with something to make every week. One day I’d like for one of them to say “Hey mom we’re taking you out for dinner” but they won’t because they have Sunday dinner at my house for two reasons. 1) So they can have a home cooked meal made by mom and 2) So they can do their laundry. But all in all I love having them over so we can catch up. But just once I’d like for them to cook for me, lol.

Awwwww, you and your boys are super adorable with that weekly Sunday tradition. I love it. Can any of them cook? Believe it or not, Blake can. 😂 He makes something called Banana Pancakes that actually taste good.

Thank you for acknowledging and commending me on my 18 lb weight loss. It was hard work and I’m very proud of myself. I’m excited to reach my weight goal and to fit back into some gorgeous dresses I have in my closet that had gotten too tight or just couldn’t fit at all.

Oh they all can cook, because *ahem* they had a great teacher! lol
I totally understand how you feel, losing weight feels so good when you have a very broad wardrobe, like I know you do. Both of us are fashionistas, and I too lost 30lbs since last year. Which does feel good when you can fit in to outfits we might have thought we had no recourse but to give away/donate. But I am insulin resistant and that was causing my weight gain, so I’m glad I got treatment for that. Banana pancakes actually sound good, ooohhh add walnuts! I’m getting hungry, lmao!

I’m going to try and ignore the pimple pooping confession. Really, really try…
Congrats on the 18lbs! That’s fabulous and I need to do the same. Someday…
Your niece is simply beautiful!
As for friends I totally agree, you get what you give. Put yourself out there, find your tribe and help others!

Okay R – now we really have bonded –
because of this one:
4. I am not impressed by how much money you have, the size of your house or what you do for a living.

Same here!!
and my father-n-law was always a bit distant with me (for a few reasons) but this was one of them because I was not wowed by his money, salary, connections, materials, or his hedonistic lifestyle – lol
–
but ti all worked out well in the end and it took until his 60s until he saw that materials and all that stuff cannot fill the inside hole – only intrinsic things can – and faith and all that – anyhow, good list here

Yes, yes, yes! All that who drives what, and lives where and knows this one and does this or that for a living doesn’t work for me. An A-hole is an A-hole despite all the expensive things and lucrative career.

Glad it worked out with Pops-in-law in the end though since family should be everything.

Well I would share more about his hedonism but really should not have even mentioned what I did – for privacy sake –
But let’s just say that he has high narcissism Symptoms and it has given me personal practice on dealing with someone with this personality disorder – takes effort and boundaries and breaks –
And the good news is we have seen a few slight improvements (like with the distortions )- if we have the right delivery to clear up inaccuracies slow growth occurs- but a lot of effort for a disorder that began and likely embedded in early teens.
—
And family “should be everything” but it is not always – eh? And thee are times when some family is distant and need to be kept at a distance and friends meet familial needs – thankful for that too

And I am the one who opened the can here so you did not pry at all! I think I am convicted a little because I want to share about it (and will because it is part of my life) I just want to protect his privacy and so you did not at all pry by asking that little bit of follow up – ha – it was just going with the bonding
–

Congratulations, Sis on the weight loss and new addition to the family💜💜

Share as much of yourself as you want!

You have to at least have one friend in this world. Sometimes it takes awhile for personalities to line up. But there are people who are terrible friends hence they can’t have anyone or lose them quickly.

And you and my husband have something in common🤢🤢🤢(he hasn’t watched any videos yet, that I know of😣) I can’t for the life of me figure out why anyone next to a doctor finds the fun in popping any skin eruptions?!

“There are people who are terrible friends hence they can’t have anyone or lose them quickly.” Spot on, Scherezade! I also find that these are the very people who blame others for everything and has zero accountability.

I knew I liked K (your hubby), especially after that, “I am sleeping with an author” statement. You got a good one there, Sis!

The weight loss thing is a work in progress, I’m not quite at my goal weight yet, it may take a few more months for me to get there but as long as I get there that’s what matter. Chile, it hasn’t been easy but one day at a time, right?!

As per usual, you’re killing it!! I never had a doubt that you’d reach whatever goal you set!

LOL Pimple popper watcher! I know it’s a thing people get satisfaction from watching – I actually know a few other people who enjoy it. I am not one of those people. It doesn’t gross me out much and it also doesn’t make me stop to pay attention. I really dig that you admitted to it though!!

Congrats, auntie! She’s a beauty! I hope we’ll get to see more pics of her as she grows up!

Congrats on the loss of weight and the gain of niece! What a lil angel! 💖🎉✨

I hear ya on the overshare. I try very hard to be a complete egotist on my blog and make it all about meeee (and the cat), so I don’t offend my fam and friends. The few pics of my girls are up with their express permission. In other people’s comments however, I pretty freely rag on exes and friends, but never ever work. That’s sacred, lol.

Agree on personality > money. Out here, it’s a hideous sea of bragging, so you have to work to find those who value character traits. 👍🏻

Lol at being a “complete egotist”. I totally agree. Yeah, I hear you. I had to ask permission to post Sonia Christina’s picture on my IG. I see my brother posts pix on his Facebook page but I felt the need to seek permission anyway since she’s his daughter. So, I totally get it.

“Hideous sea of bragging”, I really love how you string words together, Paula, and just let it flow poetically. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again your writing is phenomenal.

I lost over 100 pounds and most of the people closest to me didn’t notice until swim suit time. They just got used to seeing me big and continued to see me big even when I was smaller. LOL It’s a weird Psyche thing. It was a great read.

It was actually pretty easy, a job I took required a complete lifestyle change and those changes caused me to lose weight. Now the weight I am losing now is actual work. LOL Yep, it’s just around the corner. The DAMNGIRLS! are a lot of fun at the pool, enjoy